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Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Alexander Scriabin, one of Russia's greatest composers, Pushkin House is proud to present this unique opportunity to hear all of his piano sonatas in one afternoon. Written over the span of just two decades (1892-1913) Scriabin's Sonatas represent a unique artistic journey. They will be performed by a team of internationally acclaimed pianists - Thomas Ang, Daniel Grimwood, Alexander Karpeyev, Dinara Klinton, James Kreiling, Yuri Paterson-Olenich, Maria Razumovskaya, Olga Stezhko and Nafis Umerkulova.
This concert is part of the Bloomsbury Festival.
Please note this concert is three hours in duration.
A. Scriabin (1871-1915): Sonata no 1, Op. 6,
Sonata no. 2, Op. 19,
Sonata no. 3, Op. 23,
Sonata no. 4, Op. 30,
Sonata no. 5, Op. 53,
Sonata no. 6, Op. 62,
Sonata no. 7, Op. 64,
Sonata no. 8, Op. 66,
Sonata no. 9, Op. 68,
Sonata no. 10, Op. 70
Thomas Ang, Daniel Grimwood, Alexander Karpeyev, Dinara Klinton, James Kreiling, Yuri Paterson-Olenich, Maria Razumovskaya, Olga Stezhko, Nafis Umerkulova, piano
Thomas Ang has won prizes for his performances of Beethoven, Frederick Delius, Arthur Bliss and the contemporary piano repertoire, and has been praised for his thoughtful and critical programming and excellent technique. He has also earned recognition as a specialist in the music of Nikolay Kapustin, having played and conducted premieres of his compositions in the UK, US, Singapore, Australia, and elsewhere. In his chamber groups he maintains a strong interest in contemporary music (Duo Ex Libris) and music written by women composers (Scordatura Collective), as well as obscure and neglected composers of the last two centuries. His performances with various groups have led him to Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Following the footsteps of his teacher Hamish Milne, he has also embarked on a deep exploration of the music of Nikolay Medtner. Off the concert stage, Thomas works as an opera répétiteur and ballet pianist, and is editing Kapustin's music for Schott Music. He sometimes accompanies and improvises for silent film, appearing at various festivals and events. Thomas also plays the violin, and writes poetry and piano transcriptions of songs and symphonies.
With a repertoire ranging from Elizabethan Virginal music to the works of living composers, Daniel Grimwood enjoys a solo and chamber career, which has taken him across the globe, performing on the most prestigious concert platforms, including the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room in London, Saffron Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, the Sage Gateshead, the Three Choirs Festival, the Rachmaninoff and Gnessin Halls in Moscow, the Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as venues in Germany, Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Estonia, Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman.
His musical interest started as a 3-year-old playing next door’s piano in Kent, and from the age of 7 he was performing in front of audiences. His training continued with Graham Fitch at the Purcell School, where he also studied violin, viola and composition, giving him a broad appreciation of classical music, and later with Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Peter Feuchtwanger.
Alexander Karpeyev is a Russian pianist resident in the UK, who has performed throughout the UK and Europe and toured in the USA, Canada and Russia as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. Alexander trained at the Moscow Conservatory and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 2014 he completed a performance practice doctoral degree at the City University, based on the Edna Iles Medtner Collection in the British Library. Karpeyev devotes considerable time to promoting Russian music in London. He was first to organise Medtner festivals in the UK (in 2014, 2016 and 2017) as well as an English-speaking conference dedicated to Medtner (British Library, 2016). He was awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal and featured as ‘One to watch’ in International Piano magazine. He has recorded for Claudio Records, SOMM Recordings and Chandos Records. Alexander has been musical curator of the Pushkin House since 2016.
After sharing the top prize at the 2006 Busoni Piano Competition age 18, Dinara Klinton took up a busy international concert schedule, appearing at many festivals including the “Progetto Martha Argerich” in Lugano, the Cheltenham Music Festival, the Aldeburgh Proms and “La Roque d’Antheron”. She has performed at many of the world's major concert venues, including the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Berliner Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, New York 92Y, Cleveland Severance Hall, Tokyo Sumida Triphony Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. In concerto engagements, Klinton has worked with The Philharmonia, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Svetlanov State Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Dinara combines her concert activities with her role as Piano professor at the Royal College of Music in London.
James Kreiling’s solo career has focused on music of the early 20th century, in particular the piano works of Scriabin. His doctoral thesis, completed at the Guildhall School of Music, focused on the interaction of research, analysis, and performance practice in the interpretation of Scriabin’s late piano sonatas. He has recorded two discs encompassing the composer’s complete late piano music, which was released by Odradek in 2018 to great critical acclaim, including a five star review in BBC Music Magazine. Determined to bring Scriabin’s often misunderstood work to a wider public, he has experimented with presenting music in unusual formats and locations and is a co-founder of Multiphonic Arts, mounting concerts which mix classical piano with other performance arts - poetry, drama and dance, folk and jazz.
Yuri Paterson-Olenich was born in Brighton where he started piano lessons with Christine Pembridge, whose musical heritage stretches back to Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. In 1991 he was awarded an exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with the late Alexander Kelly. He subsequently continued his studies with Vladimir Tropp at the Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow. His many performances throughout the former USSR were highly acclaimed.
Paterson-Olenich, now settled in London, is regularly invited to take part in concert series, festivals and concerto appearances across Britain, Europe and the former USSR. Yuri has recorded Collage, a concerto for saxophone, piano and orchestra by Paul Carr with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra for the Claudio label, and his CD, Scriabin: Late Piano Works was released to critical acclaim. Following this success, Yuri was invited to record a double CD of Rachmaninov’s works, which was made Editor’s Choice for Gramophone Magazine and ‘Disc of the Week’ for BBC Radio 3’s CD Review programme. He is a pianist who likes to maintain as wide a repertoire as possible, encompassing the mainstream repertory, more unusual works, and music by living composers. Being an admirer of the visual arts, he has a particular interest in repertoire inspired by visual elements.
Described as a ‘virtuoso story-teller of the piano’ (Le Courrier), Maria Razumovskaya has performed extensively across the United Kingdom including the Pittville Pump Rooms for the Cheltenham Festival, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’ Piccadilly, Jacqueline du Pre Concert Hall, the Holywell Rooms. Abroad her performances include Piano City Milano, and international festivals in France, Germany and repeat invitations to play across Switzerland, including the Lavaux Classique Festival alongside Nikolai Lugansky, Marc-Andre Hamelin and Piotr Anderszewski.
She is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a lecturer at the City Literary Institute, and guest faculty at several international music academies and festivals.
Acclaimed by Classical Source in a Wigmore Hall review as ‘a supremely delicate master of her instrument’ who possesses ‘an extraordinary presence’, Olga Stezhko has performed worldwide from Barbican Hall in London to Salle Cortot in Paris to Carnegie Hall in New York City. Recent highlights include performances in Bridgewater Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Palermo Classica Festival, Leeds International Concert Season, and a Japan solo debut.
Olga is the winner of many international competitions and awards including the Grand Prix at the ‘Halina Czerny-Stefanska In Memoriam’ International Piano Competition in Poland and the First Prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition in France.
Born in Tashkent, Nafis Umerkulova started piano at the age of 5. A few years later she became a prize-winner of various competitions. In 2004 Nafis was awarded a full scholarship to continue her musical education at the Purcell School, Royal Academy of Music (2006) and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (2010). While studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Nafis became a winner of the prestigious RSC concerto competition and recorded Schubert’s Sonata D958 for the BBC’s Schubert Documentary.
Her numerous performances in UK feature recitals in Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Glasgow City Halls, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Town and Symphony Halls.
Nafis is a winner of the Edith Steinitz Prize, 3rd prize at the International BRANT Competition and a recipient of the Myre Hess award by Help Musicians UK. In September 2019 Nafis released her debut album “Darkness illuminated’ featuring the music of Alexander Scriabin and his rarely heard contemporary – Alexei Stanchinsky.
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